


the pale morning sings

by seren_ccd



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: F/M, Gen, Women Being Awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-24
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-23 00:19:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6098653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seren_ccd/pseuds/seren_ccd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Santanico Pandemonium breathes in the smell of a thousand souls worth of blood, but it’s Kisa that breathes out, gives the site one last look, and starts to turn the bike around.  It’s the flutter of a white sheet trapped on the branches of a bush that has her pause before she turns back to look more closely.  Kate Fuller stares back at her.  </p><p>aka 'Kisa and Kate go on a road trip.'</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm honestly not entirely sure where I'm going with this, but I think there will be at least two, maybe three chapters. Honestly, I just wanted Santanico and Kate to have a holiday away from the men in their lives. This is my attempt to make sense of what happened at the end of the season two.
> 
> The title is from First Aid Kit's The Lion's Roar (yes, I know, they're my go-to band for this fandom).

She’s halfway to the border when something makes her turn the bike in the direction of the blood well. 

She’s not sure if it’s some sort of compulsion or hunger or perhaps sheer plain curiosity, but she holds on tight to the handlebars as the road turns rough under the motorcycle’s wheels. The sun’s on its way up, so she’s going to have to be fast about it, but closer she gets, the more she knows she needs to see it.

The smell of it hits her long before she even catches sight of the old wooden structure and, she’s not going to lie, it’s the most intoxicating thing she’s ever smelled in her life.

She slows the bike and flips up the visor to stare at the chaos that Carlos left behind him. There are deep tracks in the dirt left by the truck and she can smell the dust of dead culebras on the wind. A dingy RV is parked nearby and it pings something in her memory, but she’s too distracted by the tang the scent of the blood well leaves inside her nose and her mouth to linger on the vehicle. 

Santanico Pandemonium breathes in the smell of a thousand souls worth of blood, but it’s Kisa that breathes out, gives the site one last look, and starts to turn the bike around.

It’s the flutter of a white sheet trapped on the branches of a bush that has her pause before she turns back to look more closely.

A sound comes from the RV and Kisa whips her head to stare at the figure that appears in the RV’s doorway.

Kate Fuller stares back at her.

She wears a blank expression and blood-stained clothes and it’s immediately obvious that she’s no longer fully human.

For once in her life, Kisa is not entirely sure what to do and her eyes narrow as she studies the girl.

“I heard that Carlos killed you,” she says quietly, but her words carry and Kate nods.

“He did,” she says as her pale hand absently covers her stomach. “He shot me. Twice. I… I died. I’m sure of it.”

There’s a shivering fierceness in her voice that Kisa understands all too well.

“And yet here you stand,” she replies. 

“Something brought me back,” Kate says before her eyes dart up towards the rising sun. “It hurts now. Being in the sun.”

Kisa purses her lips and closes her eyes. She can hear the sound of the highway a mile away; the call of freedom that sings so, so sweetly.

It’s with a sigh that she rolls the motorcycle down to the RV and then gets off to stand in front of Kate who is staring at her steadily. Her eyes are dazed and weak, yes, but there’s an awareness there and Kisa stares back.

“May I come in?” she asks and after a long moment, Kate steps back.

She enters the RV, crinkling her nose at the smell of the messy, enclosed space, before removing her helmet. Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she turns her gaze once more to Kate.

And frowns.

“Not culebra,” she mutters. “Not quite. But not quite human, either. What have they done to you, Kate Fuller?”

“I don’t know,” Kate says through clenched teeth. “But I can’t make them stop.”

“Stop what?” she asks. “Stop _who_?”

“ _Them_.” Kate’s eyes are wide and angry and frightened as she jerks her chin towards the blood well. “The voices. All one thousand of them. They’re in my head and they’re screaming and I don’t know how to make them _stop._ ”

 _I should have never left the highway,_ Kisa thinks.

* * *

They discover the following over the rest of the day:

While the sun hurts, Kate doesn’t burn or smoke when it touches her skin.

She’s stronger. Much stronger. The RV’s broken steering wheel is a testament to that fact.

She has no urge to drink blood or kill and has no appetite for much of anything at all, but she’s thirsty for water. So, so thirsty.

The voices in her head are constant in their one request.

* * *

“They want freedom,” Kate says while Kisa rifles through the RV to find some new clothes for Kate to change into. “I don’t know how to give it to them. They’re dead.”

“I was dead,” Kisa says. “I still craved freedom.”

“And you got it, didn’t you?” Kate says, a bitterness lacing through her voice. “By any means necessary, you got your freedom.”

Kisa pauses and straightens before pinning Kate with a look. It’s silent in the small space and Kisa stares until Kate fidgets slightly.

“Yes,” Kisa says. “I got my freedom. People died for it. Your father died for it and I’m sorry for your loss, Kate. I’ve made mistakes, I can admit that. But I would do it all over again.”

Kate cocks her head to the side and Kisa lets her look her fill. Eventually she says, “I believe you. That you’re sorry and that you’d do it all over again.” Her eyes narrow. “Did you know that people worship you?”

“It’s been brought to my attention, yes,” Kisa says with a sigh, remembering the shrine Carlos took her to. “They’re misguided. I’m not someone anyone should worship.”

“Maybe,” Kate says nodding. “But I’m beginning to come around to the idea of a goddess that’s fallible.” She rubs at the necklace around her neck. “I’m tired of the ones that think they know everything.”

The laughter that bubbles up in Kisa’s throat surprises her.

* * *

They stand together in the door of the RV and watch the sun set.

“Are they okay?” Kate asks.

Kisa knows who she means and nods. “They have everything they ever wanted. And more.”

“As if they know what they really want,” Kate says before staring hard at the wooden platform over the well. 

“Carlos is dead,” Kisa says. “As dead as he ever will be, that is. Your brother took his head for you.”

Kate’s brow furrows. “I don’t know how I feel about that.” She laughs and the sound tugs at something in Kisa’s chest. “I don’t know how to feel period.”

The sun sinks below the horizon and Kisa breathes a sigh of relief, as does Kate.

“Where were you going?” Kate asks when Kisa turns to her.

“North,” she replies. “Over the border.” She looks back at the horizon. “I once saw a picture of the Pacific Ocean from somewhere in northern California. The water looked so blue and the trees were green.” She smiles a little. “It looked cold and clean and rocks lined the water, not dust and sand.” She nods. “That’s where I’m going.”

She turns back to Kate. “Come with me.”

Kate shakes her head. “I don’t trust you.”

“You don’t have to,” Kisa says. “But do you really want to stay here?”

“Do you really want me to go with you?” Kate retorts as she crosses her arms over her chest. “I know what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to atone for tearing my life apart.”

“Yes,” Kisa says bluntly. 

Kate shoots her another look and Kisa can tell she’s taken aback by Kisa’s honesty and her hands come up to worry at the cross around her neck.

“You’re in Mexico because of me,” Kisa says. “Your father is dead because of me. But this?” She gestures towards the blood well. “That’s because of those gods who think they know everything. And I know a great deal about learning how to live with blood that’s been thrown on my hands.”

Kate’s quiet, and Kisa tamps down her impatience and the nagging voice in her head that says she should just get on her motorcycle and leave this place. But freedom came at such a great cost and she cannot forget the look on those faces at the shrine and she finds that she cannot hold onto her indifference anymore.

Besides, this particular fight is over; but the war is clearly just beginning and while Kate isn’t an enemy, she’s something new and that’s always valuable.

“Maybe,” Kate’s voice is hesitant and hopeful, “some distance from this place will make the voices stop.”

“Maybe,” Kisa says, although she doubts that very much. Sorrow is very hard to contain. “The night is passing, Kate, what will it be?”

“I’ve never seen the Pacific,” Kate says with a sigh. “And I don’t trust you and I don’t like you, but I’m tired and I don’t want to stay here and I don’t want to go to them, either.”

Kisa nods. “The proverbial rock and a hard place, I’m well acquainted with both of them.”

“Santanico – “

“Kisa,” she says firmly turning to face Kate fully. “My name is Kisa. And I’m taking my freedom back, Kate Fuller.” She leans forward. “Don’t you want to do the same?”

They stare at each other and Kisa can still hear the sounds of the highway, the scurrying around of the desert animals as they search for food, and the odd rush of borrowed blood in Kate’s veins.

Kate blinks first and says, “I don’t have a helmet.”

Kisa smiles, showing her teeth. “I don’t think you’ll need one.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently I'm incapable of telling a story without throwing a plot in there somewhere. I've also added a pairing tag because I can't help myself.

The sound of the motorcycle and the wind rushing past them mutes the voices in Kate’s head, but only a little. Sometimes she finds herself listening to them so intently, she forgets to hold on to Satani-, Kisa, while they fly down the highway.

They end up getting Kate a helmet and a leather jacket once they pass the border because Kate may be stronger now, but they have no idea if she heals like a culebra.

“Is that something you want to test?” Kisa asks her while they stand in front of a range of helmets in a Wal-Mart.

Kate thinks about it and while there is a longing deep inside her for it all to just _stop_ , she has no intention of dying. Again.

She grabs a black helmet and picks out a plain black jacket to go with it.

When Kisa pays for it with a credit card, she asks, “Is that really yours? Or did you steal it?”

“Oh, no, this is mine,” Kisa says smiling and giving Kate a wink in a rare flash of humor. “I have excellent credit.”

Kate thinks that in another life, Kisa would be one of those successful women in a place like LA or New York, running her own business or law firm, wearing suits and drinking cocktails but never letting them go to her head.

The voices agree with her. Or at least, they think that Kisa is someone to be wary of, but they also think she might protect them as well.

The leather jacket fits well and they take off, Kate’s hands locked on Kisa’s hips and she focuses on the rush of the wind on her bare hands and across the helmet.

* * *

They stop just south of Los Angeles at a hotel that is far, far nicer than any of the places Kate had holed up with Seth in Mexico. The room has wonderful water pressure and when Kisa leaves to go find something for dinner (or is it early breakfast since the sun’s coming up soon?) Kate stands under the spray.

“Measure of a good shower is how quick the water goes cold, princess,” Seth had said once when the hot water quit on her after a grand total of three minutes. She’d glared at him from the door of the bathroom, her hair a sudsy mess on her head, but he’d just chuckled and told her to ‘take a deep breath and get back in there, Kate, it’s just water. We’ll find something better tomorrow.’

They never found anything better and Kate got used to cold showers.

She stays in the shower for close to thirty minutes and the water never dips below wonderfully, sinfully hot.

The voices echo in her head just as the water falling to the tiled floor does and she runs her hands over her smooth stomach and lower back. She prods at the spot the bullets entered and left her and there’s nothing there. No scar, no scar tissue, nothing. But if she closes her eyes, she can hear the gunshot as plain as day behind her and she can feel the agony of her stomach rupturing and hate…

Oh, God, she feels so much _hate_ and _despair_ and _pain_ and the terrible thing is - she’s not sure if it actually belongs to her.

The voices scream along as she cries.

* * *

Kate’s finishing off her third bottle of water and the slices of mango she ordered from room service (she considered a hamburger, but her stomach is rebelling at the thought of meat) when Kisa comes back looking flushed and satisfied. Kate’s eyes narrow, but she doesn’t say anything.

Kisa, in return, arches an eyebrow. “No comments?”

“Would they do any good?” Kate retorts before holding up her hand and closing her eyes. “No. I’m sorry. You need it to live. No comments.”

“If it helps, he was a scumbag who was planning on going home to beat his wife,” she says heading towards the bathroom.

“It helps,” Kate says around a piece of mango. She swallows. “I’ll make sure the Do Not Disturb is on the door and the curtains stay closed.”

Kisa nods and goes into the bathroom.

Kate spares a moment to wonder what she’s doing here and if she’s become some kind of magnet for people who hate the sunlight.

But as she closes the curtains, the amount of relief she feels when the room falls dark reminds her that she’s not exactly a fan of the sunlight these days either.

* * *

They stay in the hotel for another few days, which Kate appreciates. It gives her time to rest and test her new…self.

Her memories are all there, and she still has no desire to kill anyone (hit them very, very hard – yes; absolutely yes and she has a list that she sifts through and rearranges in her mind in order of most deserving to alphabetical). 

In fact, she feels very much like she always did if it wasn’t for the voices.

They aren’t a chorus; it’s not several voices speaking as one. It’s individual voices shouting and crying all at the same time but saying different things and she thinks the word to best describe it is ‘cacophony’. She sleeps, but only for the odd hour or so and it’s only when they’ve settled slightly. 

On the fifth day, Kisa stand in front of her, looks her up and down and then says, “Come with me.”

It’s the fact that Kate hasn’t left the room in days that has her following, not the request itself.

They end up in the hotel gym and Kisa points to the free weights in the corner.

Kate lifts them all one by one, her muscles only straining on the very heaviest. She looks at Kisa with a question in her eyes but she just nods once.

“You’re strong,” she says. “Good. Now you need to learn how to use that strength.”

Kate frowns. “You’re going to teach me how to fight?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because all that anger and sadness is going to tear you apart eventually,” Kisa says. “It’s better spent tearing others apart first.”

“I’m not killing anyone,” Kate says fiercely.

The pity-filled look Kisa gives her makes her want to retch as she says, “Yes, you will. Because otherwise they’ll kill you. Now, come at me.”

Kate launches herself at the woman that ripped her from her old life and finds herself flat on her back. But she gets back up. Again. And again. And again.

When she finally manages to stay on her feet, Kisa grins and Kate finds herself grinning back before she can stop herself.

* * *

They leave the hotel the next day and even though it’s full night, the lights of Los Angeles shine like a summer day as they speed over the roads.

Kisa’s destination in mind is Big Sur and they reach it just as the sun starts to rise. Kate’s not surprised by how easy it is for them to get a room right on the coast in another very nice hotel, but she is surprised by how anxious Kisa seems once they get their room key. She’s practically vibrating and Kate almost asks if she’s hungry, but when they get to their room with a window and balcony that faces the sea, Kisa dashes to the window and stares out at the golden sun that’s slowly emerging from the horizon.

Kate stays completely quiet as she watches both the sun rise and Kisa who goes impossibly still.

“I spent an eternity certain that I’d never see the ocean,” Kisa says eventually as she steps back from the window, away from the rays of light that slowly edge across the plush carpet. “It’s so blue.”

Kate nods and says, “I only ever saw the Gulf of Mexico. This…” She stares at the wild, relentless ocean and says, “I think this is better.”

Kisa turns to her and cocks her head to the side. “Glad you came?”

“I’m not sure,” Kate says and the voices agree; the ocean awes and frightens them and there’s still a clamor in her blood for something she can’t quite name yet. 

As if aware of her internal struggle, Kisa doesn’t say anything else, just walks to sit on the bed furthest from the window, her eyes still on the ocean.

“Do you want me to close the curtains?” Kate asks her.

She shakes her head. “Not just yet. Please.”

Kate doesn’t reply; instead she curls up on the other bed and listens to the sound of the waves breaking on the rocks and the voices murmuring in her head.

* * *

Kisa doesn’t move for the next three days; she just stares out the window at the ocean and Kate starts to worry. 

On the evening of the fourth day, Kate stands in front of her and says, “Let’s go swimming.”

Kisa blinks and looks at her. “What?”

“You came all this way to the ocean,” Kate says. “So let’s go swimming.”

Kisa just stares at her. “I don’t know how.”

“I think you’ll pick it up,” Kate says. “And you need to eat something.” She pauses. “I can’t believe I’m actually offering, but do you want - “

“Yes,” Kisa says slowly getting to her feet. “I would love to drink that Santa Sangre blood.”

The voices in Kate’s head shriek and she struggles to hold her ground.

“But,” Kisa continues, “I have a feeling if I start, I won’t be able to stop, so thank you, but I’ll pick something up on the way.”

The wind is brisk as they walk down a path that leads straight to the ocean. When Kisa veers off to follow someone, Kate ignores her and continues on down to the beach.

The waves are ferocious compared to the gulf and Kate finds herself smiling even as the voices call out in fear.

She pulls off most of her clothes except for her bra and underwear and slowly walks into the waves. They tumble and roll and nearly knock her over.

A happy shriek behind her has her whirling to see Kisa, also in her bra and underwear, standing completely drenched, her long hair plastered to her neck and back.

“It’s freezing!” she yells at Kate.

“I know!” Kate yells back before she turns and dives into an oncoming wave.

The voices are drowned out by the roar of the water and she experiences peace for a few seconds, then she emerges out of the water with a gasp.

A movement nearby has her looking over to see Kisa mimic her dive into a wave.

When she jumps up, she grins at Kate and Kate grins back.

They swim in the crashing waves until the moon is high in the sky. Eventually, exhausted and frozen to the bone, they drag themselves out of the water, grab their clothes, and return to the hotel room to wrap themselves in thick bathrobes. Kate opens the door to the balcony, curls up on one of the deckchairs, and tugs a comb through her tangled hair.

“I can do that, if you’d like,” Kisa says when she joins her on the balcony.

Kate hesitates, but then hands the comb over. “Thanks. I’ll do yours, after.”

Kisa smiles briefly, then settles next to Kate who scoots forward on the deckchair.

It should feel wrong, Kate thinks, letting this woman do something so personal and caring to her. But she finds that she doesn’t have it in her to hold onto a hate that was never truly directed at Kisa. It may have been directed at Santanico Pandemonium, but Kisa? Not exactly.

Besides, she has a thousand voices taking up residence in her head, not to mention the fact that she was very dead not two weeks ago, has no idea what anything means anymore, and Kate Fuller is nothing but practical when you get right down to it so…she’ll stay where she is and see what happens.

Considering that what’s happened so far contains seeing the Pacific Ocean and access to showers with actual hot water, Kate thinks she may be winning this time.

There’s a cool efficiency to Kisa’s combing that is nothing like how her mother used to brush Kate’s hair which Kate appreciates and her hair is once again smooth and tangle free in minutes.

Wordlessly, they switch places and Kate pulls the comb through Kisa’s hair, starting at the bottom and working her way up.

“Did you love Richie?” Kate asks after a while.

There’s a pause, then Kisa replies, “No.” She sighs. “Sometimes I did. But not the way he thought.”

“Did you love Carlos?” Kate asks next.

“Once,” she says. “Before it became clear that he couldn’t love anything other than power.”

Kate hums and continues to comb out the snarls. The hair under her hands is fine and soft, but the strands are strong.

“And you, Kate Fuller?” Kisa asks with a smile in her voice. “Who have you loved?”

“My parents. My brother,” Kate answers without hesitation. “God. I really, really loved God once upon a time.” She laughs and shakes her head. “I thought that's what He wanted from me. All the love I had to give.”

“And now?” Kisa asks.

Kate pulls the comb through the last section of Kisa’s hair and her hands fall to her lap. “Now, I think all He wants from me is fear.”

Kisa nods, but doesn’t turn away from the moon. “Gods are like that. I'm not sure they know the difference between the two.”

“Do you?” Kate asks softly.

She’s quiet and Kate thinks she’s not going to answer, but then she says, “I’d like to.”

* * *

They stay in Big Sur for two weeks and they swim every night. But before they go into the water, Kisa trains Kate on the beach. It’s hard and it hurts but the voices settle down and are calm afterwards which Kate isn’t going to argue with.

She still has no idea what she is now, but she feels something that could be called peace, if she wasn’t absolutely sure this wasn’t the calm before the storm.

Therefore, when the storm finally comes, she’s not really all that surprised.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a slight warning, I'm afraid I spoil the ending of the film Thelma and Louise. I also apologize for the delay, this chapter kicked my butt a bit; however, things are beginning to happen! I hope you enjoy!

It’s been some time since Kisa dreamed. Really and truly dreamed. Not those strange visions Malvado and Carlos showed her of her standing in the sunlight, but actual dreams.

So when she dreams of running through a vast forest in her bare feet and a smile on her face as she hunts, she knows it’s no simple dream. It means something.

Visions always mean something.

That night after swimming in the sea and teaching Kate how to use pressure points, Kisa says, “I want to go inland.”

She feels Kate pause in the middle of combing Kisa’s hair and asks, “Why?”

“I’ve always wanted to see a forest,” Kisa says shrugging. “There’s a cabin about fifty miles inland on a lake. I want to go.”

She knows that Kate wants more of an explanation, but she doesn’t quite know how to explain it herself, so she stays quiet.

“Okay,” Kate says after a long moment and she resumes combing. “ _They’re_ still uncertain of the ocean, so maybe being inland might be more calming.”

Kisa frowns. “You still hear them?”

“I always hear them,” Kate replies.

“You never said.”

“What’s to say?” Kate sighs. “I’m still trying to make sense of all of this and they never say anything new. Just ‘free us’, ‘help’…” She swallows. “’Kill us quickly.’”

Kisa turns and looks into Kate’s eyes, searching for what, she’s not exactly sure.

“Does it hurt?” she asks.

Kate smiles a little. “I don’t really think I’d know if it didn’t.” Her face clears and she lifts her chin. “If we go inland, can we make sure this cabin has wi-fi?”

“Why?” Kisa asks confused.

“Because it’s time I learned more about what’s going on,” she says. “Sex Machine was a dick, but he knew all this stuff about prophecy and history. I want to know more.”

Kisa tilts her head to the side and then nods. “We should get a bigger car, too.”

“With a trailer for the motorcycle,” Kate adds.

Kisa arches an eyebrow and smirks slightly. “Of course.”

* * *

They stop to gas up about an hour away from the rented cabin that Kisa found online and Kate takes advantage of the stop to get some more bottles of water. She still can’t bear to drink anything else and doesn’t eat anything more than fruit and some rice. 

Kisa had asked about it and Kate had just replied, “Water washes the mud away and the fruit is the furthest thing from blood that I can think of.” She’d looked away. “They aren’t used to today’s food and I don’t seem to have an appetite anymore.”

The nozzle of the gas pump jumps in Kisa’s hand and she finishes up just as Kate emerges from the shop. She holds up an extra bottle of water and Kisa nods her thanks.

“Y’all going far, ladies?” a voice asks from the next car over and Kisa spares a glance at the older man and his Buick. She doesn’t pick up anything salacious from him, just that strange American way of ‘being friendly’ for the heck of it.

“Just a bit further,” Kisa says smiling tightly as Kate reaches the car.

“Two of you hitting the road?” he says smiling. “Breaking hearts and taking names?”

Kate snorts and looks so surprised by it, that Kisa snickers, even as she says, “Something like that.” 

“Thelma and Louise,” he says winking. “I get it. Y’all be careful.”

“Thanks,” Kate says with a sweet smile that distracts the guy and when he looks away, she catches Kisa’s glance and rolls her eyes. Kisa doesn’t bother to hide a smirk. 

Once they’re back on the road, Kisa asks, “What’s Thelma and Louise?”

“It’s a movie,” Kate says. “I never saw it, but it’s supposed to be this great movie about women.”

Kisa nods. “Sounds better than the stuff I watched with Richie.”

“He made you watch stuff, too?” Kate asks. She shakes her head. “The Gecko brothers have serious one-track minds.” 

They drive another mile before Kate says, “Do you want to watch it sometime? _Thelma and Louise_?”

“Sure,” Kisa says simply as she wonders if this is a step towards being friends.

* * *

The cabin is simple, spare, but warm and miles from anyone else; and while that last point has Kisa thinking twice about it, she decides she wants to see what it’s like to hunt for herself. Properly hunt her own prey, instead of having it served on a platter.

She’s not sure what Kate thinks about it, as the girl has gone very quiet once they arrived in the cabin. She seems preoccupied with the laptop they picked up on the way and busies herself hooking up to the internet, then spends hours reading. Reading what, Kisa can only guess, but as Kate doesn’t seem distressed, Kisa lets her go about her own routine.

They still practice fighting and there’s a lake just outside their front door which they swim in every evening, usually after Kisa’s found something to eat in the woods.

She feels…not content, but calm. Perhaps as close to peace as she will ever get. She hasn’t had any further visions since they left the city and so she does what she wants, sleeps through the day, and runs through the night.

One night, they make good on the idea to watch _Thelma and Louise_ ; which they enjoy…all the way up to the end.

Kisa stares at the screen blankly as the credits roll.

“That’s it?” Kate asks out loud. “They just--“ She waves her hand. “Off a cliff?”

“That was horrible,” Kisa says, her jaw setting.

“Seriously horrible,” Kate says crossing her arms over her chest. 

“We are _not_ Thelma and Louise,” Kisa says still glaring at the screen. “We’re not giving up.”

“Damn straight,” Kate says. “We’re going to have a much better ending.”

“Agreed,” Kisa says holding out her hand.

Kate shakes it firmly and they nod at one another.

* * *

Kisa has a feeling that the tide is going to change far sooner than she wanted, when one evening she rises from her bed to find Kate sitting cross-legged on the porch, staring at the lake as the sun sets.

“Are you all right?” she asks coming to stand in the door.

Kate doesn’t answer for a long moment, but then says, “I haven’t dreamed since I died. I’ve had visions of what happened to them. Bodies piled up in a massive pit in the dirt, rain pouring down on them. I dream of the blood and the screams and the mud, but…I haven’t dreamed anything for myself.”

“And you dreamed today, didn’t you?” Kisa says coming to sit beside her.

“Yes,” Kate says as she frowns. “I’m in a cave and you’re behind me. And…” She makes a face. “Seth is there and he’s holding my hand and he’s saying something and he looks so… So _sad_ and just…broken or something.” She shakes her head. “I don’t understand.”

“That he’d feel something for you or the fact that you dreamed at all?” Kisa asks.

“Both,” Kate says firmly. “Seth Gecko doesn’t do sad. He does angry.” She pauses. “Was it a vision?”

“I’m not sure,” she replies. “What was the cave like?”

“Like the labyrinth under the strip club,” Kate says. “But with taller ceilings and it gleamed with gold and bones.”

Kisa hums and stares out at the setting sun.

“What does it mean?” Kate asks softly. “What am I, Kisa?”

“I already said, I’m not sure,” she says as she stands. “You’re the one busy reading. Look up Mictlan.”

“Where are you going?” she asks.

“Hunting,” is all Kisa says and then she’s running. She knows it’s probably unfair of her to just leave Kate sitting there, but she needs the wind in her hair and the earth beneath her feet and she needs to feed before she can even consider what she may have to do next.

So she runs. She runs further and faster than she’s run before, heading deeper into the forest, chasing night as it darkens. She bares her fangs as she hurtles through the night and her eyes sharpen in the gloom.

She only stops when something large and alive looms up ahead. Kisa comes to a complete halt and crouches down.

It’s a bear; a huge male grizzly bear. Pure delight bubbles up inside her chest and she has to stifle the urge to laugh. She’s never seen one outside of a pitiful carnival and yet, here one is; larger than life and vicious and…

It’s spotted her. 

She has a moment of fear. A moment where she thinks that she should bow her head and submit and return to the cabin because this beast too big for her.

But the moment passes and she stands tall. She is Kisa. She is La Diosa and she bows to nothing.

Not anymore.

The bear growls in warning and paws at the ground, his massive paw churning up soil.

Kisa growls back.

The bear stares at her and she stares back. With a grunt it rears up on its hind legs and bellows.

Kisa grins.

She returns to the cabin covered in blood and bits of fur and Kate stares at her in horror from her spot on the couch, her ever-present laptop on her knees.

“What happened?” she breathes.

“Bear,” Kisa replies and Kate’s eyes widen.

“You ate a bear?” she asks.

“No,” she says her hands clenching and unclenching. “We fought. I could have won, but I left him alive. I only had a little drink.” 

And sweet heavens, can she feel the bear’s blood surging through her veins. Culebras tend to not bother with animals, but generally because all that’s on offer are small beasts; coyotes, vermin, and reptiles aren’t exactly palatable. But the bear…Kisa can feel his strength in her veins and she smiles.

Kate recoils, but only slightly. 

“I’m going to go for a swim,” Kisa says. “Are you coming?”

Kate nods slowly and sets her laptop to the side. “You fought the bear to prove something, didn’t you?”

“Of course,” Kisa says, their eyes meet and she asks, “Did you find Mictlan?”

“If by Mictlan, you mean the Aztec Underworld, yes, I found it,” Kate says rolling her eyes. “Are we going there next?”

“Not if I can help it,” Kisa says before turning to head to the lake, but she calls over her shoulder, “However, it never hurts to be prepared, Kate.”

“I’m not fighting a bear, Kisa,” Kate replies following her out the door.

Kisa laughs. “Oh, but you will. We’re sparring later, after all.”

* * *

The end of their time in the cabin comes after a month to the day they arrived and it happens in a way that Kisa supposed she’d been expecting.

Carlos may have been in several different pieces, but he always had enjoyed a good back-up plan; Kisa would have to give him credit for being such a good little manager.

It happens as Kisa and Kate emerge from their nightly swim in the lake. Kisa’s about to pick up her discarded shirt when an oddly familiar scent drifts by on the wind.

“You,” she hisses as her fangs come out. She leaps and knocks the figure that has jumped from the underbrush down to the ground.

Kate freezes where she is, but Kisa notices that her knees are bent and she’s watching very closely.

The body beneath Kisa hisses back and snarls, “Enjoying your holiday, Queenie?”

Kisa grins and lifts the girl who she’d last seen impaled on something and tightens her grip on her throat. “It’s been very refreshing. Now, tell me, little girl, what brings you here?”

The girl, Maia, Kisa seems to remember her name being, struggles and kicks, but a month of swimming and running through dark forests hunting has filled Kisa with a new kind of strength and eventually Maia stops struggling and just stares at her.

“I asked you a question,” Kisa reminds her, running a tongue over her fangs.

“I’m here to…” Maia breaks off.

“To what?” Kisa asks. “Kill me? Already tried that and things didn’t exactly go as planned that time, did they?”

Maia snarls and manages dislodge Kisa’s hand as she aims a punch at her head, however she stops cold. Kisa flickers her gaze to Kate standing just behind Maia, a very sharp stick pressed tight against her ribcage.

“I very strongly suggest you stop trying to hit my friend and answer her question,” Kate says through clenched teeth.

Kisa spares a quick grin for Kate, but then refocuses on Maia who looks horrified and delighted at the same time.

“God, it actually happened,” she says laughing. “You smell like that fucking place, Kate Fuller. Amazing.” She glares at Kisa. “You’re really going to do it? I couldn’t believe it when Carlos said it was going to happen. No one is that dumb.”

“When what was going happen?” Kisa asks, her hand snapping out to grip Maia’s throat, her nails digging in.

Maia’s eyes widen. “You don’t know? Oh, that’s good. La Diosa and the Vessel have no idea what they’re getting themselves into. Did you honestly think you were done? Did you think you could just play lost in the woods and the gods would let you go?”

“I do what I want,” Kisa growls as her grip tightens and Kate presses the stake in harder. “And I answer to no one.”

“You’ll answer to the gods,” Maia retorts as she claws at Kisa’s hand. “We all answer to the gods.” She stops struggling and stares Kisa in the eyes. “You have no idea what’s coming for you.”

“Then tell me,” Kisa says lightly. “So I can get there first.” Maia just makes a frustrated face and Kisa tsks. “Oh, you’re still wanting to be the queen, aren’t you? Very sorry, mi niña, but the position’s already occupied.”

“Carlos promised me,” she hisses. 

“Of course, he did,” Kisa says. “He’s very good at promises. Just not very good at keeping them. Now, what’s coming?”

Maia struggles and then closes her eyes. “They’re going to go into the Underworld. The brothers. It’s their destiny.” Her eyes open. “They’ll be forced into it. Because of you two.”

“Why?” Kate asks leaning forward.

“Because _you’re_ the Santa Sangre vessel. All that precious blood all wrapped up in a pretty little edible package,” Maia says over her shoulder, then she juts her chin out at Kisa, “and you killed Malvado who killed Oculto to get the blood well. Two gods are dead because of this mess that you started just because you decided you wanted a vacation; did you really think there wouldn’t be repercussions?”

“And Carlos thinks that he can use the Gecko brothers’ trip through the underworld to his advantage,” Kisa says. “How?” Maia doesn’t reply, but her eyes dart to the side, and Kisa shakes her head. “Oh, pobrecita. Looks like we aren’t as important as we thought.”

“I will be,” she says through her fangs as they drop.

Kisa smirks. “No, you won’t.”

With a heave, Kisa flings her several feet away to land in the lake with a splash. Maia flails for several minutes until she manages to drag herself out of the water.

Kisa stares at her, Kate by her side, and then says, “Run along, mi niña. Tell Carlos to fight his own battles. If he ever manages to get himself together, that is.”

Maia hesitates for a moment, then, with a snarl, she disappears down the road.

“Why did you let her go?” Kate asks.

“Because she’s just the messenger. I don’t kill messengers,” Kisa says heading into the cabin. She gets all the way to the porch before she realizes that Kate is still standing with the stake in her hand, looking down the road.

“You knew,” Kate says staring out into the dark.

“I knew that it wasn’t over,” Kisa says with a sigh. “I knew that someone would come looking eventually. They came a lot sooner than I thought.”

“Did you know what I was? What I am?” she asks looking up at Kisa. “A vessel?”

“No,” Kisa says shaking her head. “I knew that you were a part of this. That you have always been a part of this. That the fact that the blood chose you meant something. But, no. I didn’t know the details.”

Kate laughs bitterly and not for the first time, Kisa wonders what the blood in Kate’s veins feels like. “’A pretty edible package’. That’s great. Looks like I’m just destined to be the sacrificial lamb. Again.”

“You were chosen, Kate,” Kisa says stepping off the porch. “They chose you to bear the results of their tragedy.”

“It’s not my tragedy!” Kate yells throwing her hands in the air, her voice a plea to the night. “And I don’t want it! All this pain and despair and blood! It’s not mine to bear!”

Kisa stares at her and with a single finger, she touches the cross around Kate’s neck. “A tragedy of the magnitude of Santa Sangre belongs to everyone. And like it or not, it’s yours now.”

“I don’t want to die,” Kate says her eyes bright with unshed tears. “I didn’t then and I sure as hell don’t now.”

“Why do you think they chose you?” Kisa says smiling slightly. “Just because you happened to be there? No. Because you have the strength to make it mean something. To make their deaths mean something. You want to live? Use that. Use it with every fiber of your being.”

“I hate this,” Kate says haltingly and so, so angry.

“I know,” Kisa replies. “So do I.” Now it’s her turn to laugh bitterly. “Do you know, I actually thought that I could escape all of it? I honestly believed I could retire from all of this.”

“No, you didn’t,” Kate says shaking her head.

Kisa chuckles. “No, I suppose I didn’t.” She looks out towards the lake. “I hoped, though.”

They both stare at the lake as it ripples under the moonlight.

“We have to go back, don’t we?” Kate asks.

“We were always going to have to go back,” Kisa says.

* * *

They make good time driving to Texas, only stopping one day to rest and to eat. Jacknife Jed’s looks more or less the same as when Kisa left it; raucous music filters out into the parking lot and Kisa can smell a mix of culebra and humans coming and going. However, it has none of the grime that the Titty Twister had and Kisa imagines that’s Richie’s doing. He always hated messes.

They park close to the back and head in through a side door, walking quietly down to what used to be Malvado’s office. Again, Kisa can sense the changes the brothers have made as the walls no longer seem to loom and it feels clean and spare.

A new, simpler desk is where Malvado’s ridiculous over-sized monstrosity used to sit and it smells of Gecko male - whiskey, sweat, and gun oil. 

“They’re going to freak out when they see me,” Kate says glancing at Kisa who nods.

“They are,” she says.

Kate arches an eyebrow. “That’s why you didn’t call ahead. You’re looking forward to it, aren’t you? Seeing them see me?”

“And you aren’t?” Kisa asks. “I’m surprised you don’t have a camera ready to capture the look on their faces.”

Kate doesn’t reply, but Kisa sees her hide a smirk.

“Are they even here?” Kate asks.

“Richie’s in the bar and Seth’s in the warehouse,” Kisa says.

They come to a stop in front of the desk and face each other. Kisa feels as though she should say something but she’s not sure what.

Kate smiles a little, before shrugging, “Thanks for showing me the ocean.” 

“Thanks for showing me how to swim,” Kisa replies. Kate nods and Kisa takes a deep breath as she says, “Are you ready for a better ending, Thelma?” 

“Let’s go, Louise,” Kate says turning to face the entrance to the office.

With that, Kisa calls to Richie.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm afraid I spoil the ending of Torn Curtain by Alfred Hitchcock in this chapter, so - spoilers? I apologize for the delay, this chapter went all over the place and I had a heck of a time getting it where I wanted. But the brothers are finally making their appearance and I found writing one particular moment very satisfying. I hope you enjoy!

Kate feels, of all things, very calm standing in what is now the Gecko brothers’ base of operations. The voices have settled now that they’re back in the desert, away from the ocean and the forests, and Kate also feels settled. She wonders how much of _her_ is even left at this point. How much of what she feels is her own or is it all just a reflection of the Santa Sangre?

She gets her answer when she hears footsteps coming down the hall and the wave of anger that blooms in her chest feels very, very personal.

“I may punch him, you know,” Kate says, her eyes fixed on the doorway.

Kisa shrugs. “I certainly won’t hold you back.”

“Good,” Kate says just as Richie rounds the corner. 

“I didn’t expect to see --“ His voice trails off and oh, yes. Dumbfounded is an excellent look for Richard Gecko, Kate thinks.

“Kate,” he says, his voice a broken, soft thing.

“Evening, Richie,” she says. “How’s life treating you these days?”

His eyes flicker between her and Kisa, who is maintaining an excellent poker face that Kate would love to learn how to imitate, and she can see him trying to figure out what to say next.

“I…” He swallows hard and takes a step towards her. “We wondered what happened to you. We went back. For, ah…”

“My body?” she asks flatly. “Well, as you can see.” She holds her arms out. “I’m in one piece. More or less.”

“But not human,” he says and God, is he sniffing the air? “And not a culebra.” His eyes widen. “Shit. It’s true?”

“You’ve heard something, too?” Kisa asks. “About a prophecy?”

“I looked into a few things,” he says, not taking his eyes off of Kate and she’s getting a little tired of it. “I was curious about what we’re in control of.”

She can’t help herself, Kate snorts while Kisa laughs softly. Richie’s expression turns mulish.

“What?” he asks. “What’s funny?”

“That you think you’re in control of anything here, Richard,” Kisa says shaking her head. “You’re here because the Lords want you here. They want you both here for something else.”

“No,” he says. “I fought for this. I _earned_ this.”

“With _my_ blood,” Kate says through clenched teeth.

His face falls. “I know, I… Kate, I’m…” There’s a moment when she honestly thinks he’s going to apologize, but then… He straightens. “You should have trusted me.”

Her hands curl into fists and she shakes her head. “No, Richie. I really shouldn’t have.” She sighs. “Better get this over with. Where’s my brother? And where’s your brother?”

He pulls a phone out of his pocket and presses a number. Seth’s voice comes out, loud and clear. 

“Little busy here, Richard.”

“Seth, get down here,” Richie says and Kisa can hear Seth reply with “Later, Richard. I’m making a point to our colleagues.”

“Stop posturing and get your ass down here, pronto, brother,” Richie says firmly before he hangs up the phone and goes back to staring at Kate, who stares steadily back at him.

After a long stretch of silence, Richie says, “Scott’s okay. He’s due back tomorrow, but I can call him back tonight. If you want.”

Images of time spent with Scott when they were kids conflict with images of him pressing her hand while it holds a knife down into a man’s chest as well as helping him bury a body that had once been a friend flash in her mind. The voices shriek for her to call her brother to account and something that sounds very much like her own voice agrees. A headache edges in around her temples and she’s not sure she can take seeing Scott right now.

In the end, she shakes her head. “I think we’ll be here for a while. Tomorrow’s fine.”

“He’s been keeping an eye on Carlos’ people for us,” he says. 

“Really?” Kisa says as Kate exchanges a look with her. “He missed someone.”

“What do you mean?” Richie asks.

“He missed Carlos’ little girlfriend,” Kate says. “She paid us a visit.”

Richie frowns. “Carlos has a girlfriend?”

They exchange another look before Kisa says, “You men have all the same blind spots.”

Richie opens his mouth to say something, but appears to think better of it and just looks uncomfortable.

Silence descends once more and Kate has the wild urge to turn to Kisa and ask that they go back to their cabin in the middle of nowhere. She wants to go swimming in their lake and not have to deal with any of this. But the voices cry out and she knows that this is just the beginning and there’s so much more she’s going to have to do before she can find peace again.

They hear footsteps striding down the hall and Seth saying, “Jesus Christ, Richie. That is the last time we work with those morons from Florida. I’ve had it with them.” He stalks into the room, sees Kisa and comes to a halt. “Well, well. Welcome back, goddess.”

“Seth,” she says inclining her head. “Brought a friend with me.”

“Yeah? And who might that be?” he asks walking further into the room.

Kate can feel the air in the room change the moment he spots her and she’s fairly sure she won’t ever forget the look of shock and sadness on his face. It actually takes her breath away and what’s more - the sight of him fills her with a tingling warmth that surprises her.

Naturally, it clears when he pulls his gun to aim it right at Kate’s head as he snarls, “Who the fuck are you?”

_Typical_ , she thinks as she stares down the barrel of his gun directly into those dark eyes of his.

“Seth, it’s her,” Richie says.

“No,” Seth says shaking his head and looking furious. “She’s dead. You said it yourself. Shot twice in the stomach. She’s gone and I don’t know what the hell this is, but you better take her face off before I do it for you.”

“Seth,” she says and oh, why did her voice crack? She swallows. “Seth, it’s me. It’s Kate. I’m…alive. Mostly.”

He shakes his head and steps forward, flinching. “No. She’s gone.”

“I’m not,” she says. “The blood well did something to me. It’s really me. Just…different.”

He cocks the gun and Richie yells, “God damn it, Seth! It’s her!”

“Prove it,” Seth says slowly, his dark eyes hard on her.

Kate sighs. “The day before that score? The one you said you were going to stroll out of like Paul Newman? When you said that, I then said, ‘Who’s Paul Newman?’ and you looked at me like I was insane. You said, ‘Jesus Christ, Katie, what the hell are they teaching you kids nowadays?’ Then you dragged me all over that stupid town looking for all of the Paul Newman dvd’s you could find.” She takes a deep breath and looks him in the eyes. “Then we watched _Cool Hand Luke_ , _Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid_ , and _The Hustler_. We fell asleep during _Torn Curtain_ which you said was all right because it was the most fucking-“

“-boring Hitchcock film he ever made,” he finishes, his gun lowering slightly. 

He doesn’t say anything else and the warmth slowly returns to Kate’s chest and she doesn’t want to give him an inch, but can’t seem to stop herself from asking, “Did they make it? In _Torn Curtain_ , Paul Newman and Julie Andrews? Did they make out of Germany?”

He nods. “They jump off a boat and swim to Sweden. They make it.” He lowers his gun. “Jesus fucking Christ. _Kate_.”

“I’m so mad at you,” she says, her voice catching in her throat. “I’m really, really mad at you, Seth Gecko.”

“You should be,” he says nodding. “Hate me all you want, Katie. I can take it. Hell, you wanna take a swing?” He holds his arms out to the side. “I won’t stop you.”

The voices in her head go silent for a breath and then swell as they shriek for her to do it. To beat him black and blue. To _hit_ him until the pain inside of her _stops_.

Kate squeezes her eyes shut and whispers, “No. I won’t do it. It won’t help you.”

“What?” Seth asks. “Won’t help who?”

Her eyes open and something in them must surprise him, because he rears back. “Christ, Kate. What the fuck happened to you?”

“The Santa Sangre blood happened to me,” she says before her gaze switches to Richie. “You still see things, Richie?”

“Sometimes,” he says slowly.

“Well, I hear them,” Kate says. “Constantly. And they want me to level this place to the ground.”

“Which she won’t,” Kisa says putting a hand on Kate’s back. “But you must know why we’re here. You’ve heard something, haven’t you?”

“Is this about that shit that dude was going on about?” Seth asks. “Something about needing some brothers to take a trip underground?”

“The trickster brothers who defeat the Lords as they travel the Underworld,” Kisa says smirking. “You have heard something, then.”

“I heard a weird fairy tale that some guy hopped up on meth was jabbering about,” Seth says. “Not exactly a reliable source, your worship.”

“But the stories are true,” Kisa says. “It happened once. It’s going to need to happen again.”

“Not this prophecy shit again,” Seth says rubbing his forehead.

Kate rolls her eyes. “You run a bar for culebras and you can’t bring yourself to believe in a prophecy?”

“Oh, no, princess,” he says. “I believe. I just hate this shit.”

She has to stop herself from reacting to casual way he calls her ‘princess’. Has to curl her hands into fists at her side because it’s been months, she _died_ , and it feels like no time has passed at all. He smells the same; of gun oil, sweat, and aftershave without that horrible sour smell of the drugs. 

He’s clean. He’s been clean for a while. She wonders what made him stop. Then tells herself that she doesn’t care; what Seth Gecko does with his life is not her problem anymore.

Even the voices don’t believe that one.

“So, where is it?” Seth’s asking Kisa as Kate drags herself back into the present and out of her thoughts. “The Underworld?”

“It’s not a club, Seth,” Richie says. “You’re not going to find it on a map.”

“No,” Kisa says thoughtfully turning to Kate and looking her over. Kate looks back steadily. “But maybe we just need a guide.”

Kate stares and then realises what Kisa’s saying. “You think they know where it is?”

“Ask them,” Kisa says gently.

Kate winces and nods. “Right.”

She closes her eyes and has the question formed in her mind, but Seth interrupts, “Wait. Wait one god damned second. You were serious? You have voices in your head?”

Kate’s eyes open. “Yes. One thousand of them.”

A range of emotions pass over his face and the one that seems to settle first is something like horror.

“Jesus, Kate,” he says reaching out and touching the side of her face.

Heat spreads across her skin like wildfire and she gasps as she jumps back, her hand covering where he touched her. His eyes widen and he just stares at her.

“What was that?” she asks. 

“What was what?” he says. “Did I hurt you? I barely touched you.”

“You’re…” She swallows. “Your hand. It was so warm. I haven’t…” She looks at Kisa. “Is that normal?”

“Culebras tend to run a bit cooler than humans,” she says glancing between Kate and Seth. “And it’s been some time since you’ve been around a human.”

Kate rubs her cheek and eyes Seth who’s eyeing her right back. 

“Can I?” she asks holding out her hand, palm down, as though he’s a feral dog.

He nods and steps towards her and God, she can feel the heat radiating from him. Her intentions of being cool and casual fly out the window in the face of so much warmth and she steps into him, pressing her hand flat against his neck. 

“Fucking hell, Kate, your hands are freezing,” he says shivering.

His skin practically burns her hand and she can’t seem to stop her other hand from pressing against his chest.

“God,” she says, her voice cracking. “How are you this hot?”

“Years of practice, princess,” he says smirking.

She glares at him and pulls her hands away quickly. “You’re such a jerk.”

“Yeah. It’s a hard habit to break, I’m afraid,” he says.

Kate rolls her eyes and notices that the voices have calmed down ever since she touched Seth and she’s not sure if it’s because they’re afraid of him or if it’s because they trust him. She’s doubly not sure which is worse.

“Sorry to break up the touchy-feely part of the evening,” Richie drawls. “But I believe you were going to ask your little friends if they can get us to the Underworld?”

Kate closes her eyes to save herself the trouble of glaring at him and tries to ask them about the Underworld. Several frustrating seconds later, she shakes her head.

“They’ve never been to the Underworld,” she says opening her eyes. “It’s like they’re in some kind of limbo. They’re just trapped.” She rubs her forehead as she looks at Kisa. “They just want to be free.”

Kisa nods. “Entiendo. We’ll figure it out.” She turns to Richie. “We need to figure this out. Carlos’ girl was the first to come looking. She won’t be the last.”

“I don’t know what you want me to do about it,” he says. “We run a business, that’s all.”

“No, you run business for the Lords,” Kisa says firmly. “This isn’t some simple shipping empire, Richard. Sooner or later, they’re going to want you and Seth and Kate to fulfil your destiny. Now, wouldn’t it be better to find out what that’s going to entail before they come asking?”

“I hate to be the one to ask,” Kate says. “But I don’t suppose you know if Sex Machine is still around?”

“That nutcase?” Seth asks. “Why?”

“Because that nutcase is a leading authority on Aztec mythology and he’s the one who found the blood well in the first place,” Kate replies. “He’ll probably know what’s coming.”

“We can ask the Ranger,” Seth says shrugging. “He’s keeping tabs on us as it is.”

Something like hope mixed with shame kindles in Kate’s chest. “Freddie’s okay?”

She can’t quite interpret the look on Seth’s face as he says, “Yeah. Ranger Rick’s fine and dandy, last I heard.”

She breathes a sigh of relief and swallows, wincing as her throat tightens. She’s gone too long without water and it’s beginning to irritate her. Kisa arches an eyebrow at her and Kate shrugs.

“Guess there’s no lake nearby,” she says.

Kisa makes a face. “Not one I’d like to try out.”

“No bears, either,” Kate says smiling slightly.

Kisa grins. “I’ll have to find a new challenge.”

“Wait,” Richie says holding up his hand. “Are you two friends now?”

They look at each other and Kate nods. “Something like that.”

“Jesus. You die, she goes free, and the two of you just magically decide to Thelma and Louise it?” Richie asks.

“Why do men always reference that movie?” Kisa asks crossing her arms over her chest.

“Lack of imagination?” Kate offers.

“It can’t be the only film ever made about women,” Kisa replies.

Richie’s staring at them like he’s trying to puzzle something out, while Seth just raises his eyebrows.

“It’s not an unfair assumption,” he says. “The pair you just stroll right in here looking like you own the place; you’re going to have to forgive us if we’re a little taken aback.”

“No,” Kate says softly looking at Seth and then at Richie. “I don’t have to forgive either of you.”

Seth goes still while Richie rears back, but then recovers.

“You should have listened to me,” Richie says, those eyes of his intense and glittering behind his glasses. “If you had listened to me, everything would have worked out.”

“Is that what you tell yourself to make yourself feel better?” Kate asks. “What about when you sold Kisa out to Malvado? Was everything going to work out then?”

“Yes,” he says stepping forward. “I know what I’m doing.”

“No, you don’t,” Kisa says gently. “Not this time. You only think you’re calling the shots here, Richard. The Lords will make you dance to their tune soon enough.”

“What?” Richie asks making a face. “You two go on some kind of girlie road trip and now you know everything? What the hell do you two know?”

“It’s not what we know, Richie,” Kate says. “It’s what we’re not standing for anymore. And that’s being in the passenger seat while you men blunder your way through this world and the next. I refuse to be just some ‘vessel’ for someone else to sacrifice.”

She glances at Kisa who smiles and nods.

“Precisely,” she says before looking at the brothers. “Now, we’ve come a very long way and I could use something to eat and I know Kate’s thirsty.”

“What kind of thirsty?” Seth asks.

Kate rolls her eyes. “The usual kind of thirsty, Seth, don’t worry.”

“Hey,” he says shrugging. “Just trying to keep up here, because ten minutes ago I thought you were dead.”

“Well, I’m not altogether sure I’m alive,” she says on a sigh. “But I’m pretty sure I’m not dead.”

“Well, that’s a good place to start,” he says. “Come with me, ladies. What’s your poison?”

Kate starts to follow him, Kisa beside her, but just as she passes Richie, his hand darts out and grabs Kate’s arm.

“Wait,” he says and something inside her just snaps.

Kate leans back, pivots, and punches him right on the jaw, her added strength sending him to the ground.

She stares down at him, while he stares up at her, blood blooms at the corner of his lip and his hair has fallen into his eyes. The voices in her mind have gone totally silent and she thinks it’s in awe.

“Do not touch me,” she says quietly. 

He doesn’t reply, just continues to stare up at her.

“And if you ever betray Kisa or me or even Seth, _again_ \- I will take your head, Richie Gecko,” she tells him.

She turns and takes in Seth’s wide eyes and Kisa’s proud ones and just lifts her chin. 

Seth lets out a bark of laughter as he shakes his head and says, “Not that I don’t understand the impulse to deck my brother from time to time, but damn, Kate. What kind of blood are you hopped up on?”

“Angry, righteous blood of a thousand souls,” she says. “Now, what the hell does a girl have to do to get a glass of ice water in this place?”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so, so, so sorry for the delay in getting this done. I had this already plotted out well before the third season aired, so while some things that happened may be included, this is very AU at this point. There will be one more chapter after this. I hope you enjoy and thank you so much for hanging in there!

Once Kate has her glass of ice water and Richie’s split lip has healed, they all sit down.

“So, why are the Lords going to get so mad at us?” Seth says. “We’re doing things by the book.”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Kisa says. “And I think it’s time for the Lord of Tributes to make some changes.”

She told them of the culebras in the shrines, the ones starving in dark shadows. “Something must be done.”

“We’re not a charity,” Richie says.

“Perhaps we should be,” Kisa says.

“’We’?” Richie repeats. “What ‘we’? You left to go road-tripping with Kate, here. There is no ‘we’.”

“What did you have in mind?” Seth asks.

“Seth!”

“I am just doing what you have told me time and again, Richard,” Seth says. “Hear the proposal first, then judge. So shut up and let’s listen to La Diosa.”

Kisa shares a glance with Kate. Well, no one ever said working with the Geckos was easy. Kisa lifts her chin and start to talk and plan.

* * *

Jacknife Jed’s is not like the Titty Twister. While there’s desperation and lust and anger, it doesn’t clog Kisa’s nose like it did at the Twister. Things feel...more civilized. Ordered. There’s a code, of sorts, that the Gecko brothers have always adhered to (when it suited them) and they instill that code in their employees and guests.

Kisa feels far more at ease than she’d like to.

Kate’s the one that’s on edge. Kisa was there for her meeting with her brother (Kate’s request) and while Kate’s hands were still and her voice steady, there was a thrum behind her eyes that spoke of concealed rage and hurt and love.

Immediately after the siblings hugged awkwardly, Kisa took Kate to an empty part of the warehouse and they sparred for two hours straight.

It seemed to help.

The days fall into a pattern.

They discuss their plans (such as they are) with their motley crew of criminals, Peacekeepers, and the slimy professor. Who, as it turns out, they didn’t have to look very hard for him as Sex Machine comes to them.

“I always liked you boys,” he says grinning. “Way better than Carlos.” His gaze turns to Kate and Kisa knows that look having been the recipient of the same disgusting leer for centuries. “And anything that allows me to spend some quality time with the pretty Miss Katie, well--“

“Come near me and I’ll rip you apart,” Kate says flatly.

“Oooh, kinky,” he says waggling his eyebrows.

“Right.” Seth pulls out a stake and kicks Tanner in the knee. Tanner falls to the ground and Seth jabs the stake an inch into his chest, just above his heart. “There will be no talking to Kate, no looking at Kate, and, come to think of it, if you talk or look at any of the women in my employ or hell, anywhere within a thirty mile radius of this spot, this stake finds a new home in your chest, got it?”

Tanner winces and whines. “Yeah, yeah, you made your point. Jesus. Man can’t help the fact he’s got needs.”

“Learn,” Seth says twisting the stake. “And just so you know, there are at least three of us who wouldn’t mind you disappearing and I’d say that Kate would be the first in line to do some damage, but I’m worried that you might like that.”

“I would,” he admits.

Everyone in the room rolls their eyes, but he has actual information, so they add him to their strategizing.

Not that there’s much to strategize. They’ll have to wait for the Lords to make some kind of move as they can’t exactly take the fight to them. So…they wait.

And Kisa watches.

Kisa and Kate both watch the Gecko brothers at work (Kisa watching how Seth cannot stop his gaze from flickering over Kate every five minutes as though to check that she’s still there. The longest he goes is an hour and that’s only because he has to go elsewhere for a meeting. Kisa finds it all very amusing, especially when she realizes that Kate does the same. Although the girl can manage an entire ten minutes at a time.).

They spar.

Sometimes Richie watches, absently rubbing his chin where Kate struck him. Scott sometimes joins in, shows off his skill with swords, and Kisa sees something of Carlos in the boy and isn’t that troubling. 

Seth never watches.

If she had the time and the inclination, Kisa would be amused.

As it is, she doesn’t, and the nights are passing and she’s getting increasingly agitated.

Something is coming and she doesn’t know what it is.

“If I don’t know what it is,” she says during a sparring session with Kate, Richie and Scott watching from the sidelines. “I can’t prepare for it.”

Kate frowns and dodges a punch, crouching on all fours to sweep out a leg that Kisa manages to leap over. “Isn’t that how these kinds of things usually go? I kinda thought most battles end up with someone improvising at some point?”

“They do,” Richie says. “Look at the Magnificent Seven.”

Both Kisa and Kate roll their eyes, but Scott says, “Yeah, he’s right. You just gotta do what you do, right? Shore up our defences. I mean, it sucks, but what are we going to do about it?”

Kisa looks at Kate who shrugs and says, “He’s not wrong.”

“It’s not,” Kisa admits. “But I still want to know what’s going to happen.”

“Don’t we all?” Kate says, her smile sad and weighted down with a thousand angry souls.

The look in Kate’s eyes stays with Kisa over the next two days and she’s wondering if she should do something to get Seth to act on the feelings he so clearly has for Kate.

Turns out she doesn’t have to do anything.

She’s prowling along the halls of Malvado’s ‘temple’, suppressing the find the nearest blunt object and batter the walls with it, when she comes across the kitchen. Not the restaurant one, but the smaller private one and hears voices inside. When she recognizes Kate’s, she silently edges up to the door and glances inside.

Kate’s standing at the edge of the counter, a familiar glass of ice water in front of her, watching Seth as he makes a sandwich for himself.

“That’s a lot of mayonnaise,” Kate says scrunching her nose.

“Yeah,” Seth says, slathering even more on the bread. “It evens out when I add the hot sauce.”

“Gross,” Kate says sipping her water.

“Sure you don’t want one?” Seth asks as he goes to the refrigerator. 

“I’m not hungry.”

“Yeah, I, uh, notice you don’t eat much these days.”

Kate glares at him. “No. I don’t.”

“Hey.” He holds his hands up. “I’m not criticising. Hell, rule number one when talking to a woman – never mention their weight.”

Unseen, Kisa rolls her eyes.

“But, uh, I don’t want you to not take care of yourself,” he says.

“Really?” Kate says, disbelief dripping from her voice like acid. “That’s pretty damn rich coming from you, Seth.”

He sighs and puts down his sandwich without taking a bite. “Kate-“

“No. You told me to go play in the darkness,” she says eyes narrowing. “Well, here we are.”

“I’m sorry,” he says looking down.

Kisa blinks at this and Kate goes still and just stares at him. His head is bowed and remorse is etched into every line of his body.

“You know, you never would have apologized before,” Kate says slowly, uncertainly. 

“Yeah, well, I’m getting old, Kate,” he says lifting his head and trying to smile. “And life’s too short to die with unfinished business. I shouldn’t have taken you with me in the first place.”

“I have a feeling a lot of this would have happened whether or not I got into your car,” she says. 

“Destiny and all that?”

“Yeah,” she says sighing. “And all that.” 

He studies her and Kisa studies them both. Seth makes a face, takes a bite of his sandwich before carrying his plate over to the small table in the corner of the kitchen. He slides the plate on the table, then saunters over to the freezer.

“Hey I, uh, got you something,” he says opening the freezer. “I know you’re not really hungry, but since you like fruit and cold stuff, I got you some of these.”

He pulls out two pints of sorbet, strawberry and peach, and plucks a spoon out of the drawer. Kisa sees his eyes glance at Kate hesitantly before he just puts the pints and the spoon the table, sitting down to eat his sandwich.

As for Kate, she just stares at him, her face blank, her bottom lip pulled between her teeth. Eventually she says, “Ice cream isn’t going to fix anything, Seth.”

“I know,” he said looking at her over his sandwich. “That’s why I got you sorbet.”

He kicks out the chair next to him at the table.

Kate chuckles and shakes her head. “You’re such an asshole.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he says, his mouth full. "I most definitely am."

Kisa watches Kate walk over to the table and sit down heavily in the chair. She sighs and stabs the spoon into one of the pints, putting a large bite into her mouth.

She frowns. “This is nice.”

“Glad you like it,” he says smirking and she shivers. “Whoa, hey, you all right?”

“Brain freeze,” she says smiling a little. “Didn’t know I could still get that.”

Kate glances at him, but he’s not smiling and Kate’s smile slips off her face. He swallows hard and then stretches out his hand to cradle her cheek. Kate’s entire body startles and her eyes close on a gasp and she shifts away.

“Hey, hey,” he says shaking his head. “No funny business, all right? Just…stop fighting me on this one and let me warm you up.”

Kisa practically holds her breath as she watches Kate calm down and open her eyes. But then she’s sliding her hand towards him and curling her fingers around his wrist. Seth’s eyes flutter shut, then he’s shifting his hand to hold Kate’s and he just nods.

He goes back to his sandwich and Kate spoons herself some more sorbet.

Kisa lets out a breath and smirks slightly, turning away from the kitchen. She spots Richie a few feet away, his eyes narrowed.

He opens his mouth to say something and she shakes her head, walking to him and then past. He follows her.

“You match-making now?” Richie’s voice is low and mocking.

“Kate needs a champion,” she says. “With what’s coming up, she needs someone who will protect her.”

“From the bad guys?”

“And from herself,” Kisa says. “She can protect herself to a point, but I fear she’s going to have to make herself very vulnerable and she’ll need someone in her corner.”

“Unlike you, of course,” he says. “You never needed anyone in your corner.”

“That’s not true, Richard and you know it,” she says turning.

“I know that you used me,” he says.

She stops and looks at him. “Just like you used me. Just like you sold me out to Malvado for your own selfish reasons. We used each other, Richard. We both wanted to escape and look at us. Still dancing to someone else’s tune. But you know what the big difference between then and now?”

He shook his head, brow furrowed.

“We’re doing it on our terms,” she says, her lips curving up. “We’re fighting for the freedom we deserve. We’re fighting to keep it.”

He doesn’t look convinced, but she’s not worried even as she walks away. Seth’s in it for Kate and for money, and Richie won’t leave his brother. Not again. 

Kisa smiles.

If only something would happen. Her blood vibrates with the bear’s blood and she wants to _fight_.

* * *

She really should have remembered to be careful of what you wish for.

* * *

Kisa and Kate are sparring against Richie and Scott, while Seth and the Ranger watch, and it’s clearly in favour of the women. Kisa’d been surprised by Seth’s appearance and the man looks like he’s going to reach for his gun every time someone so much as lunges towards Kate, but he’s behaving and calls out pointers every so often.

There’s a feeling in Kisa’s chest that’s unfamiliar, and she thinks it might be hope.

Naturally, that’s when the door to the warehouse flies opens and a familiar presence fills Kisa’s mind. Kate shies back even as her eyes fill with hate and anger.

Carlos, Maia right behind him, grins as he god damn _strolls_ towards them all.

“Well, well. The gang’s all here,” he says, his voice rougher than it used to be, the scar where Scott took his head is vivid on his throat. He looks at Kisa and smiles. “I’ve missed you, mi vida. So very much.”

Events spiral somewhat out of control after that.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for hanging in there with me! This was only ever supposed to be a one-shot, but that's what I always say. I hope you enjoy this last chapter. I think I've tied most everything up and I may very well write an epilogue one of these days.

Kate slowly opens her eyes.

All she sees is white.

She blinks and her eyes eventually focus.

The white is a plaster ceiling with a thin crack in the corner.

Her neck hurts. It aches and burns like the world’s worst bruise and crick combined. She feels…. The world feels…

So quiet.

Hushed.

And she realises.

They’re gone.

The souls.

They’re _gone_.

Her breath catches and her lungs hurt and her legs kick out and she cannot breathe. They’re _gone_. It’s too quiet and oh, _God_.

“Shh, shhh, mi hermana,” Kisa’s voice is calm and soothing beside Kate and she turns her head to see her. Kisa just nods. “I know, it hurts. You must _breathe_ , Kate. Out. Blow the air out.”

Kate exhales and it sounds like a sob. “They’re gone,” she gasps. “The voices. Where…?”

“What do you remember?” Kisa asks taking Kate’s hand.

Kate blinks wildly looking around the room, the ache in her neck tugs at her memory and her free hand comes up to touch her neck. She lightly prods the bandages that encircle her throat and then holds her hand in front of her. There is a pink band-aid on the inside of her elbow as well on top of her hand.

She remembers. She remembers _everything_.

“We fought gods,” she says staring at her hands. “The Lords, they offered us up to the gods. They used Carlos and they tricked us all.” She closes her eyes. “The Santa Sangre destroyed them.”

Her eyes open and she looks at Kisa who stares steadily back, nodding her head. “Yes, it did. The sorrow and the pain and horror of what was done to them killed the gods. You offered yourself to them and like the gluttonous fools they are, they drank from you.”

Kate frowned. “You’re using the present tense. Aren’t they dead?”

“They’re gods, Kate,” Kisa says smirking wryly. “They can’t die. Not completely. But they’ll not be waking any time soon. The Santa Sangre saw to that.” She smiles and brushes some of Kate’s hair away from her forehead. “You saved us all.”

“Who saved me?” she asks having only the vaguest memories of what occurred after the gods bit into her neck and started to drink.

“Who do you think?” Kisa asks, her smirk widening into a grin.

Kate stares at her and sees a flash of Seth’s worried face and the sting of a needle in the crook of her arm. She also sees Kisa holding her wrist up to Kate’s mouth.

“Thank you,” Kate says squeezing Kisa’s hand. “Am I…?”

“No,” Kisa says shaking her head. “You haven’t turned. I only gave you enough to heal a bit faster. As far as we can tell, you’re completely human. When you’re feeling better, we can test your strength and reflexes.” Her smile fades. “You really can’t hear them anymore?”

Kate shakes her head and a few tears slip out of the corner of her eye. “It’s so quiet.”

“Not for long,” Kisa says her eyes lifting to the door which swings open.

Scott, followed by Seth and Richie, walks into the room. His face breaks into a smile and he crouches down on the other side of Kate’s bed.

“Hey, big sis,” he says. “You and your beauty sleep. You’re so lazy.”

“Eff you, little bro,” she says weakly, but still managing a chuckle.

“You look better,” Scott says. “More color, you know, in your cheeks. You don’t look like death anymore.”

“Thanks,” Kate says drily. “You’re so charming, Scott.”

He grins at her before looking over his shoulder at the Gecko brothers.

“Welcome back, Kate,” Richard says almost solemnly. “Nice to see you actually compos mentis and not singing Miley Cyrus songs.”

“What?” Kate asks, her voice flat.

“You were singing ‘Party in the USA’ at one point,” Scott says still grinning. “While you were asleep.”

“I did not,” Kate says eyes narrowing.

“And the Jay-Z song was on, and the Jay-Z song was on, and Jay-Z song was on,” Richie deadpanned.

“Oh, my God,” Kate says covering her eyes with her hand. She stills and drops her hand. “Gods.” She shakes her head and frowns as she looks over at Kisa who arches an eyebrow at her. “There are gods.”

“Yes,” Kisa says. “There are.”

Kate’s hand comes up to feel for her necklace, but it’s not there. Something like panic rises up in her chest and tears sting the backs of her eyes.

A throat clears and she looks up to see Seth, who had been silent and leaning against the wall the whole time, walk over to her. 

“Didn’t want it to get tangled in the bandages,” he said, his voice rough as he holds out his hand. 

Her eyes not wavering from his, she holds out her hand with the pink band-aids on it, pink band-aids that most definitely signify that Seth gave her his blood to help her stay alive. He drops her necklace into her palm and she curls her fingers around it. The gold is warm in her palm, as though he’s been keeping it close to him for some time.

“Thank you,” she says, her voice barely a whisper, and she doesn’t, can’t, think of anything else to say to him. Her mind is terribly, gloriously quiet for the first time in months and every part of her, inside and out aches. And she so, so, so tired. She wants to stay awake, but her eyelids betray her and grow heavy. She shifts under the covers and blinks up at Seth, wanting to say something to him. Anything. But the words just aren’t coming and her eyes flutter again. She frowns in frustration.

But he just smiles at her. 

This little crooked smile that tugs at her mid-section and he nods.

“Get some sleep, princess,” he says lightly tapping the knuckles of her closed hand with his fingers. “There’ll be some ice cream for you when you wake back up.”

“Promise?” she says, squeezing Kisa’s hand again and the other woman squeezes back.

“Cross my heart,” he says, actually crossing an ‘x’ over his chest.

“That’s your lung,” Richie says. “Your heart’s more in the middle.”

“Naturally, that’s a thing you’d know,” Seth says rolling his eyes.

“Human anatomy is something everyone should know, Seth,” Richie says.

Kate huffs a little and closes her eyes. She’s asleep in seconds, the sound of the brothers bickering a comforting sound in the silence of her mind.

* * *

They make her stay in bed for an entire week and it’s only until she glares and tells Seth that she is getting out of this damn bed and if he tries to stop her again, she’s finding his closet and slashing every single suit he has with her bare nails.

He stops to stare at her in horror before bursting out laughing, practically doubling over, before he, with tears honest to god streaming down his face, says, “Fine, you got it, Princess. Up and at ‘em.”

She stays out of bed an hour longer than she really wants to on principle.

By the end of the third week after they all faced down gods and lived to tell about, she’s taking the bandages off her neck by herself in the bathroom. The white cloth piles up in the empty sink and she stares down at it when the last of it lands. Bracing herself, Kate looks up into the mirror.

Her cheeks aren’t as full as they used to be, there’s a narrowness, a sharpness to her cheekbones that wasn’t there when she left Texas, but it’s not unpleasant to look at. Her eyes are back to their familiar green, but the shade’s lighter than she remembers. Finally, she looks at her neck.

The wounds aren’t as big nor as gory as she expected. She’ll give it to them, gods apparently know how to eat neatly. A pair of identical perfectly round puncture wounds mirror each other on either side of her neck. They sit low on her throat, nearly at the juncture of her shoulder. She breathes in and out slowly before reaching up to touch the wounds.

They don’t hurt anymore, but the skin feels tight and itchy, like healing flesh.

There’s a sound at the door to the bathroom and Kate looks in the mirror, to see Seth standing there, his arm propped up on the door jamb as he looks at her reflection.

She stops touching her wounds and makes a face. “Guess I’m stuck with these, hunh?”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” he says rubbing his own set of puncture wounds left by his brother and covered over with tattoo ink. “Think of them as battle wounds.”

She wrinkles her nose. “Maybe I’ll just get used to wearing scarves. Or maybe I should get a tattoo?”

“Nah,” he says shaking his head and stepping into the bathroom, setting a cold can of Coke on the counter, but still looking at her. “They’ll fade. Probably. And hey, dudes dig scars, you know.”

She elbows him lightly in the stomach. “Cute.”

He chuckles and leans forward and by the time his lips touch her skin, she’s frozen still, her breath trapped in her throat. She can see in the reflection the second Seth realises that this isn’t something they _do_. He’s never kissed her in any way before. And now he is. His lips are warm on her skin and the wounds ache in a whole new way that stretches along her nerves to pool low in her belly.

His eyes lift to meet hers in the mirror and he must decide to just _commit_ to what he’s started and presses his lips to her throat firmly.

It’s a close-mouthed kiss, but it’s Seth and it’s her and maybe this has been building since she nearly ran him over in her family’s RV, so her eyes flutter shut and she exhales a soft sigh.

“Kate,” he says, his mouth still pressed to her skin and his voice vibrates through her. “I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.”

“Neither do I,” she says on a breathy laugh. “But it’s okay. I think it’s really okay.”

She reaches her hand back and blindly finds his. He clutches at her hand and makes a sound low in his throat as he wraps his other hand around her waist and pulls her to fit against him; her back slots perfectly against his chest. He breathes in deep and on his exhale, he brushes his lips back and forth over her throat and Kate just holds on to his hand and closes her eyes.

* * *

Two weeks later, Kate’s close to being completely healed and her cross is once again on her neck, the delicate gold chain lies just below her wounds.

She stands, her arms crossed around her waist, and watches Kisa store some small bags of blood into the small compartment on her motorcycle. She’s clad head to toe in leather, her straight hair flows free down her back as she faces Kate.

“Where will you go?” Kate asks.

Kisa looks thoughtful. “I’m not sure. Maybe the Rockies. See some more mountains.”

“Well, give those grizzly bears hell for me,” Kate says grinning a little before sighing and frowning. 

“Hey,” Kisa says walking over to her. “You’re going to be fine, Kate Fuller.”

Kate gives her a look. “I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about you.”

“Me?” Kisa says as she blinks. “Kate, I…”

“You shouldn’t be alone,” Kate says taking Kisa’s hand. “I know you need to not be here, but just…promise me you won’t stay alone? Okay?”

Kisa frowns down at their joined hand and Kate knows she’s wondering how the two of them got to this place, remembering that night beside the blood well when Kate got on the back of Kisa’s bike and regained control over her life. Kate smiles a little.

“And send me a postcard?” she adds.

A slow smile spreads across Kisa’s face as she lifts her head. “As long as you keep me posted on whatever is happening between you and Señor Gecko the Elder.”

“I have no idea what’s happening there,” Kate says rolling her eyes. “But that’s okay, I think. Not knowing. I kinda like having the future unwritten for once.”

Kisa nods. “I think I know what you mean.” She straightens. “Take care of yourself, Kate.”

“You, too, Kisa,” Kate says with a nod.

Kate pulls Kisa into a hug and at first, she’s stiff, but eventually Kisa relaxes and gives Kate a quick squeeze; and then she’s pulling away and getting on her bike. With a quick wink at Kate, Kisa pulls her helmet on and guns the engine, taking off down the highway.

Kate watches her go until her brake lights fade into the dark. She stays looking out at the night until Seth comes looking for her.

“La Diosa off chasing the night, again?” he asks strolling up to her.

Kate nods and swipes beneath her eyes, getting rid of the stray tears.

Seth looks worried and says, “She’ll be back, you know?”

“Oh, I know,” Kate says smiling at him. “The desert…it gets into your blood.” She looked down the highway. “We’ll see her again.”

Seth shuffles his feet a little and Kate can feel him watching her. Eventually, she turns to him and he raises his eyebrows at her.

“I, uh, did you know that we also inherited some houses along with the bar?” he says, seemingly out of nowhere.

Kate blinks a little and says, “No, I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah, looks like Malvado dipped his fingers into real estate, too,” Seth says. “Legitimately, if you can believe it. Anyway, one of the places is a few miles away. Gated community. The interior looks like Al Pacino’s going to be coming down the stairs in a Hawaiian shirt shouting about his ‘little friend’ but uh, it’s got a pool.”

_Oh._ Oh, she’s been longing for a swim since they arrived and Kate sucks in a quiet breath, not wanting to give her interest away, but because he’s freakin’ Seth Gecko, he catches it and starts to grin.

“Oh, yeah,” he says, still grinning and stepping in close. “Olympic-sized pool, heating and everything. You interested?”

“Maybe,” she says lifting her chin. 

“Oh, only ‘maybe’?” he asks tilting his head to catch her eyes. 

Kate shrugs and sidles away, heading back into the bar. “It depends. How’s your backstroke?”

“Fucking abysmal,” he says following her. “But I bet yours is picture-perfect. Pretty sure there are some bathing suits somewhere around here.”

“Thanks, but that’s all right,” Kate says calling over her shoulder. “Don’t really need one, you know?”

She’s pretty sure she hears him trip over his own feet and curse, so she’s grinning as she walks inside and joins her brother at the bar.

* * *

Seth takes her to the house with the pool the next day and neither one of them wears a bathing suit.

* * *

**Somewhere in Idaho**

Kisa fills up the tank of her motorcycle and stares at the mountains just up ahead. These look different from the ones in California, more spare, not as lush. But there’s still a wildness that calls to her, and she happy to heed its call.

She finishes pumping her gas and heads inside to pay. Once she’s paid the disinterested clerk, she’s back beside her bike and is reaching for her helmet when she hears someone talking heatedly nearby.

“You absolute bitch,” a woman is saying to someone on her phone as she paces next to a truck with a flat tire. “You could be out here in fifteen minutes. But no! You’re going to ignore me. Again! You know what? I’m done. It’s over. I don’t want you to call me and I’m not going to call you. I’m doing what I should have done a month ago.”

She stabs a finger on the screen of her phone and nearly growls. Kisa raises her eyebrows and is impressed by the stream of profanity that comes out of the woman’s mouth. The woman looks up and spots Kisa.

Something, she’s not sure what, (maybe it’s the fact that the woman smells like the desert and whiskey or maybe it’s the fact that there’s so much passion and life thrumming in the woman’s veins, or maybe she’s finally acknowledging how lonely she is) makes Kisa say, “Need a lift somewhere?”

The woman arches an eyebrow and looks Kisa over. A full onceover that makes Kisa smirk just a little bit, the tiniest upturn of her mouth, while she does it.

“Where you headed?” the woman asks, hands on her hips.

“The mountains,” Kisa says jutting her chin out. “But I can stop somewhere first.”

“Funnily enough,” the woman says. “That’s where I’m headed. My family has a cabin on the range. I’m heading up there to do some work on it.” She looks Kisa over again and shakes her head. “You’re going to need something warmer than leather up there. Nights are cold.”

“Are they?” Kisa says. “What do you recommend?”

“What’s your budget?”

Kisa smiles. “Decent enough.”

The other woman grins. “Good. Good winter gear ain’t cheap.” Her eyes narrow as the phone in her hand vibrates. She considers it for a moment, then disconnects the call. Her eyes find Kisa again. “That bike will only get us some of the way. I’ve got a truck back home. And some stuff that might fit you.”

Kisa tilts her head towards her bike in invitation.

The woman grins briefly, then grabs a bag out of the car, locks it up and walks over to Kisa.

“You have a name?” she asks.

“Kisa,” she says holding out a hand. “My name is Kisa.”

“Nice to meet you, Kisa. I’m Manola,” the woman says. “Manola Jimenez.”

Kisa smiles, Manola’s hand is warm and a perfect fit against her palm, and says, “Encantado, Manola. Now, where shall we go from here?”

~The End~


End file.
